Princess Margareta of Romania: EU must boost the accession process of the Republic of Moldova
Her Majesty Margareta said, on Wednesday, during a speech held at the Swedish Institute of International Relations in Stockholm regarding the Romanian perspective on the eastern borders of the EU and NATO, that the accession procedures of the Republic of Moldova to the European Union must be accelerated, emphasizing the fact that Moldova and Ukraine "will not find peace unless they are part of the European family", reports Agerpres.
"The objective that I have now assumed, both with the support of the Government of Romania and with the support of the Government of the Republic of Moldova, is to be sure, simply, that the Republic of Moldova is not consumed by the tragedy that is now affecting Ukraine; that her reformist government is supported in achieving its goal and that the citizens of Moldova are allowed to decide their own future, instead of having their future decided by others. I welcome the European Union's decision last year to grant Moldova candidate status. (…) I feel obliged to add that we need to be aware of the urgency in supporting the Republic of Moldova. Having accepted the Republic of Moldova as a candidate country, the EU should start as soon as possible to identify the objectives on which the government of the Republic of Moldova should focus in order to speed up its accession to the EU. Yes, the prosperity gap between Moldova and the EU is huge. And yes, there are serious difficulties in the good governance of the country. But, at the same time, the citizens of the Republic of Moldova are probably some of the most ardent supporters of Europe," said the Princess.
Her Majesty Margaret made it clear that, as the tragic example of Ukraine fully shows, the alternative of not seizing the opportunity of European integration would mean a much more expensive and desperate integration effort at a later stage, after the end of the war in Ukraine. “Furthermore, our eastern borders will not be peaceful unless these two countries are allowed to live in peace. And, as we discovered through our own Romanian experience, these nations will not find peace unless they are part of the European family. It is very simple. I know that there are many other priorities that we face in the European Union today and that they all require our attention. But at the risk of stating the obvious to everyone, we usually don't get to choose our own crises; crises choose us. For once, let's have the wisdom to anticipate the next crisis. Doing everything possible for Moldova to remain whole and free", Her Majesty concluded. During the visit of the Royal Family of Romania to Sweden this week, Her Majesty Margareta and Prince Radu will meet, on Wednesday afternoon, with the ambassador of the Republic of Moldova in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, Liliana Guțan.
